In countries like Sierra Leone, there is an acute need for trained coaches to help eager young players develop their skills

Lausanne, Switzerland, January 9, 2013 – The FIVB Technical and Development Department has released its comprehensive calendar of Volleyball Cooperation Programme (VCP) courses, coaching courses and technical seminars for 2013. The calendars can be viewed on www.fivb.org, here and here.

There are already a record-breaking number of courses scheduled – 119 – and more applications are still being processed. The courses cover a full spectrum of subjects and locations around the world.

“We're very pleased to see that remote federations, especially in Asia, are showing even greater interest in hosting courses,” said FIVB Technical and Development director Helgi Thorsteinsson. “Activities in the NORCECA region are also on the rise. African federations remain primary targets, as in previous years, and many of them have benefited strongly from these programmes. We’re looking forward to working with our partners in all the Confederations, National Federations, Development Centres, and of course the coaches and players who make these courses valuable.”

Already in 2012, VCP courses were active over 267 days of the year, while coaching and technical courses added up to 433 days of sessions between them. In 2013, the Technical and Development department, as well as the regional DevelopmentCentres, will only see further growth in demand. This is in line with the needs of National Federations and the goal laid out by FIVB leadership to keep development at the heart of the FIVB's mandate.

The Technical and Development department continues to increase its capacity to deliver high-quality training, but also depends on the contributions of local and regional partners to help support the heavy course schedule. The department has been encouraged by the results of this collaborative approach, which include the 6,424 coaches who have been certified through FIVB-backed courses worldwide since 2002 – 4,481 to Level I, 1,777 to Level II and 166 to Level III.

In 2012 alone, 425 coaches received Level I certification, 158 received Level II and 31 received Level III. Of these 614 individuals, 78 were women.